Dropkick Murphys Bring Boxing to Summer Tour Finale

Most bands bring opening acts on their tours, but it's not every day that you get an undercard. As Dropkick Murphys wind down their tour with Flogging Molly this summer, the final date of the run at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H. will also include several boxing matches. The connective thread here is Dropkick Murphys bassist-singer Ken Casey, who has worked with Murphy's Boxing in recent years as a fight promoter.

"[Danny O'Connor] was a friend and I thought I could promote him and help him get some press," Casey told Billboard of his first foray into the boxing world. "One thing led to another and I was putting on boxing shows for him and getting people to come watch him fight. I like a challenge and it brought me back to the early days of the band, handing out flyers and really having to work to get your name out."

The June 23 show in Gilford will alternate between band performances and boxing matches, with a feature 12-round match between Mark "Bazooka" DeLuca and Walter "Two Guns" Wright being the main boxing attraction. There will also be additional four-, six- and eight-round fights as part of the bill.

"Watch a band, then watch a fight, then watch a band and then watch a fight — people love it," Casey says. "I'm a huge boxing fan and keep an eye on who is coming up in boxing."

The Dropkick Murphys start their summer co-headline tour on June 1 in Cleveland with Flogging Molly. See all of their scheduled dates here.